As predicted, more Microsoft news from MIX10, and this is some big stuff: Internet Explorer 9. As we all know, Microsoft really let Internet Explorer rot away, allowing competitors to make much better browsers with better standards compliance and performance. With IE9, Microsoft is aiming to not just close that gap - but to overtake the competition. Update: Ars has an in-depth look at the platform preview.

From the Ars article, it sounds to me like they still have a bad attitude towards compliance. The announcement of IE8 was the same story. Everyone said, "finally, they are listening" yet we're still writing workarounds for IE!

I understand little mismatches between browsers & OS's, but CSS3 should be a done deal. Like you said, where's my rounded corners and shadows? Fonts are another issue for me. I have to convert to EOT fonts just for IE while everyone else can handle OTF and others. In the article they dismiss compliance here too.

Someone more savvy than I (or less lazy) should write up a list of elements, selectors, and other features that are implemented in Gecko, Webkit, and Presto, but not IE and say, "Here's what developers want. Give us that or keep your browser."